AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“I don’t know.”
Leaning over him, I put my face in his. “Did you rape her?”
He went pale. “No. I swear on the sirens, we didn’t. We messed her up, but we didn’t touch her like that.”
“Thank you,” I said, and plunged the knife into the side of his neck.
He dropped to the pavement, lifeless, and I tossed the knife back to Delta. “Go to the infirmary and get a report on Clementine’s injuries. You have until midnight to recreate every single one. And if you get through that, have fun. But he doesn’t leave here.”
“You got it, Pres.”
The man sputtered, staring at his friend on the ground. “You can’t—you can’t do this. Please, we just needed the money.”
My knuckles burst across his cheek. “You want money? Get a job. Steal some shit. Rob a bank. Get on your knees and suck some cock. You look like the kind of guy who could take it balls deep. Hell, I’m a generous man. I’d even consider letting humans run drugs for me. But you take money to beat up an innocent woman on top of doing it to come at the Iron Shadows?” I laughed, the courtyard going quiet at the sound. “You lost your life the minute you took their cash. They were never going to let you live, and you ensured your death in the most painful way possible. Take him.”
He was screaming as Delta dragged him away, begging. His voice cut off with the thick sound of flesh hitting flesh, and then the scraping of a dragged body. Delta’s cheery whistle faded into the distance.
One set of intruders taken care of. Now I needed the rest. I clapped the prospects on the back. Not every member of the Court of Shadows was in our club, but many were. “Thank you for acting quickly.”
“No problem. Is—” The one who’d destroyed the SUV, Brian, spoke looking at me. “Is Clementine okay?”
“Rocketman is with her now. You know he’s the best. But you can see her if she agrees?” I raised an eyebrow.
We didn’t police member’s or prospect’s lives. If he and Clementine were involved, it wasn’t my business unless it affected the Shadows.
“Thank you.”
I set up patrols around the perimeter of the entire compound while I waited for Wraith and the others. We wouldn’t get concrete proof it was the Legion. They were careful right now, which told me there was something else at play. Fang was trying to bait us. Why?
In the meantime, we would watch our backs.
A smudge of smoky shadow appeared outside the gate, then another, and another. Wraith appeared with a man covered in a hood over his shoulder, five others behind him. Quickly glancing at my phone, I smirked. Five minutes until the deadline I’d given him.
“Punctual.”
“You know me,” he grinned. “I aim to please.”
They lined up the men, all six of them hooded. I stood in front of them, deciding whether I wanted to see their faces.
“Did they say anything?”
“Nope. Tight-lipped fuckers. I cut out one of their tongues to see if they would talk, and even then, he wouldn’t. Pretty sure they’re enchanted not to.”
I swept my Shadows over them. There were traces of magic clinging to them, but like the other one I’d shot, these were human men, and they kept their own will. They hadn’t been forced to attack us.
Fae power was clever and useful, but it wasn’t all powerful, and every court had its specialty. I could create or conceal anything I wanted. I could command. But I couldn’t invade the mind of someone to see their thoughts. That specialty lay with the Court of Water, and though we were on good terms, I didn’t have time to summon a water fae. Both the Legion, my club, and my Court, required swift action.
Turning so I faced away, I stepped up shoulder to shoulder with Wraith. “What are they offering these men to get them to commit a suicide run freely? Delta’s in the church basement with one of the ones who—”
Wraith was already gone when that happened. “They beat the hell out of Clementine. She’s injured, and I gave Delta permission to torture the guy in the same way before he dies.”
A low growl filled the air beside me. “Good. But to answer your question, I don’t want to think about it any more than you do, but given what they’re after? They may have offered a piece of her.”
Skyla.
Scarlet rage burned across my vision.
There was a good reason the Courts tried to prevent hybrids. Not only were they dangerous in many ways, their existences could be cruel. An immortal, mindless slave who would enjoy what you told them to enjoy and do what they were told no matter how depraved? That was a temptation few would be able to resist.
